


Sometimes you should not miss the seminar

by Mag7FandF_FanGirl (RannaFic)



Series: Adjustments and Accomodations [6]
Category: Fast & Furious 6 (2013), The Fast and the Furious (2001), The Magnificent Seven (TV), White Collar
Genre: Corporal Punishment, Established Relationship, M/M, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-02
Updated: 2013-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-27 23:48:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 16,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/667855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RannaFic/pseuds/Mag7FandF_FanGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crossover with White Collar. Peter Burke and Neal Caffery meet Ezra. Initially all does not go well. Then things get worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pleased to make your acquaintance

**Author's Note:**

> This a crossover I could not resist when I came across Wyvern's story The Cost of Friendship which has Peter and Neal getting involved in a weapons case. .

Neal relaxed, admiring the paintings scattered about the library. His favorite part of this job was getting a chance to view beautiful art and their current target Mr Tenabras had quite a collection of masterpieces here. He had clearly been collecting for a while and certainly had good taste. "Well I have to admit you are a true connoisseur" that was the go code and the team would be here in a couple of minutes. Usually they were faster but this was a huge estate, it was going to take those minutes just to get up the driveway. He smiled, it would be his pleasure to catalog these treasures. He heard a knock, looked up and his heart almost stopped. There was a man peering into the room smiling at Tenabras and he was wearing very visible gold cuffs on his wrists, an honest to god toy!

Ezra was enjoying his stay with Tenabras. One of the targets of a couple previous unsuccessful investigations, a Mr Blane, had surfaced in New York. When Chris had discussed going to follow Blane he had not particularly wanted to come since Dom would be less than thrilled to have him traveling so far away. However when Blane had been captured and subsequently escaped Federal custody Dom had pointed out they had a standing invitation with Tenabras. That put the team in a better position since, although Tenabras was no longer involved in criminal activity, he still had contacts and knew all the major players in the east coast. Dom was fine with going, since right now he had some friends he had not seen in years who would also be visiting the area. They had arrived yesterday evening and Ezra had not been sorry to leave the team at their medium rated hotel and go and enjoy excellent hospitality. Currently Dom was still fast asleep in bed, which was the opposite of their normal pattern but Ezra had gone to bed earlier, not staying up with Dom and his friends, and so he was wide awake. He had gone in search of his host in the hopes of finding breakfast. Finally, with some directions from the guards he had tracked him down entertaining a young man in the library. He knocked and then wandered in, his current bodyguard trailing behind him as always. He walked over to introduce himself, "Good morning. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. If I may be so bold as to introduce myself I am Ray. You are?" Ezra always liked to know who people were, something that was part of him now after so many years on the job. The young man paled. "Neal Caffery. You're a toy!" 

Neal had never bothered to learn the FBI's alert codes for a toy on the premises. He had never imagined anyone would be careless enough to setup a sting while one was around. From their research these paintings had been on Tenabras' estate for many years. Given that, he suspected that Tenabras could not have imagined his paintings provoking an FBI raid. In any case surely the toy's presence had been reported to law enforcement. That should have prevented him from being sent into the house in the first place. Neal wondered where the toy had come from. He knew Tenabras did not own any toys. He would have heard about that and would never have agreed to any kind of operation. He could not believe Peter would set him up in a situation like this so obviously the toy had to be a new arrival. He hoped the agents were still monitoring him, otherwise there was going to be a really dangerous situation in another minute or so. The toy laughed at his exclamation "I do believe that is currently my status yes." He indicated the bodyguard who had followed him into the library and continued "Hence the gentleman with the weaponry. Personally I feel it is unnecessary, but it is not my wishes which are paramount for such situations. Certainly given that Mr Tenabras announced our presence to both the ah criminal and law enforcement elements last night the bodyguard seems somewhat overkill." To Neal's horror the toy then waved his guard into the library, remaining standing at the door. Neal could see the front door from where he was. If someone had missed Neal's message FBI agents would be coming through that door at any moment with drawn guns.

Ezra heard a crash behind him and turned to see the front door caving in and men rushing in shouting "FBI, nobody move". This was not good at all, there was no way the FBI should be running any kind of raid with him present. He did not want to make any sudden moves but he was well aware of the armed guard in the room behind him. If the guard retained his weapon things could go bad very, very fast. With relief he heard Tenabras shouting, "Weapons down now!" His eyes scanned the entering agents and to his relief he could see the guns start to drop. Then to his alarm one of the agents entering looked into the library and shouted 'gun' and some of the agents brought their guns up again, pointed in his direction. He heard "Goddammit! Guns down!" from the guy, Neal, behind him but there were still a few pointed at him. Abruptly he felt someone smash into him from behind, knocking him to the ground. The breath was knocked out of him and then Neal was standing protectively over him. Then, he heard Dom's growl from the top of the stairs. "What the hell is going on here!"

Neal had finally got the toy safely out the line of fire by knocking him to the ground. He was going to have a really long talk with Peter over this one, a couple of the agents had not listened to his "Guns down", probably because Peter had ignored it. That was just insane. He heard a yell and then a really big guy was standing at the top of the stairs. Some of the agents pointed their guns at him. There was no way that guy was anything but the toy's owner and to his astonishment he saw Ray start to get up. He pressed down on the toy's back intending to keep him down and found his legs suddenly swept out from under him and the toy crouched over him, clearly looking to attack the agents pointing guns at the guy at the top of the stairs. To his despair some of the agents swung their guns to point back at the toy. Finally Peter started shouting "Everybody stand down!" and then at last all the guns were at least pointing down again.

Dom was livid. He had made sure to let the authorities know he was in town and where he was staying and even corrupt agents surely knew better than to try this kind of thing. He didn't know why the agents were here at all and apparently insane enough to point guns in Ezra's direction but he was damn well going to find out. Once the apparent agent in charge had finally got Ezra out of the line of fire he started down the stairs, intending to start yelling, but paused in amusement. The young man who had taken Ezra down was on his feet and yelling at the agent in charge. He was clearly as angry as Dom was and the expression on the agent, who Dom gathered from the shouting was Peter, was a sight to behold. Then Tenabras came out of the library and started in on the agent also. Dom was not surprised, if anyone besides Dom had a right to be angry he was the one.

Peter could not understand what had happened. This was supposed to be a simple bust with a non violent perp. Suddenly there was serious firepower and Neal was yelling at him as if he had shot his best friend. He couldn't understand more than one word in ten with the amount of agitation in Neal's voice. Abruptly there was a bellow from the big guy on the stairs. "Enough! Tenabras call 911 we'll get some sensible LEOs out here. If you explain the problem I'm sure they will be here in 5 minutes." The guy turned to Neal. "You. What's your name?" to Peter's surprise Neal paused before he answered. "Um I am going by Neal Caffrey" "Ok since you're the only one with any sense around here perhaps you can explain how Federal agents came to draw on a toy." 

Neal laughed "You know I would dearly like to know that myself." He turned towards the agents. Barrigan and Jones had never pointed guns at the toy but two of the other agents had as well as Peter. "Peter what the hell were you thinking? If you are suicidal jump in front of a bus or something. Don't put all the rest of us at risk. Hell I never thought anything could make you endanger Elizabeth." Peter seemed confused "Neal what the hell are you talking about." The toy laughed suddenly "Mr Caffrey I do believe that your FBI friends have been skipping some very important bulletins. They have no idea what I am. I would have believed that FBI incompetence of this magnitude was limited to Atlanta. Though I would have thought this house would have still been declared off limits." Suddenly Peter's phone started ringing. The toy smiled "I do believe that would be your Director hoping that your little raid has not started yet." Neal watched Peter answer the phone. What he could hear of Peter's answers were not encouraging. "Actually Sir we're already inside the house. ... There seems to be some issue with a toy? ... Well I was sick that week and then there was never an opportunity.." Neal tuned it out with a shudder. The toy was grinning but his owner was anything but amused. The toy smiled at him and pulled his owner forward. "Mr Caffrey let me introduce Dominic Torreto. He is my .. owner. I do believe there will be some very enraged cops arriving shortly, perhaps we should adjourn to the library with Mr Tenabras." Toretto growled "Yeah I'd really like to know what the HELL you were thinking Tenabras to be engaging in any kind of activity which would cause a goddam Federal raid while we were here." Tenabras started objecting and Neal stepped in "Actually in fairness to Mr Tenabras we were attempting to recover a painting which he acquired 20 years ago. I doubt he would imagine that it would be an issue." Tenabras shot him a look of extreme gratitude and Neal smirked, he had made a good friend there. Just as they stepped into the library they heard a yell from the front door. "What the FUCK is going on here? This place was declared off limits yesterday."


	2. You look familiar

Team 7 arrived at the Federal building to meet with the agents who had encountered Blane. They were scheduled to meet with the agent in charge, Peter Burke at 10am. The team was in high spirits, joking and laughing, and Ezra had given up trying to get them to behave with any decorum and walked ahead of them disassociating himself from his team's behavior.. They entered the conference room Ezra leading as the diplomatic face of team 7 and Ezra stepped forward to shake hands with the agent in charge. Just then a younger man stepped into the room, glanced at Ezra, paled and struck Peter's hand out of the way as the two agents were about to shake hands. Ezra looked over at him and laughed. "Well Mr Caffery, an observant man. What an unexpected surprise at the FBI." He smiled at Neal. "Perhaps I should introduce myself. Agent Ezra Standish of the ATF." Neal paused and then asked with great sincerity "Are you completely insane? Do you have any idea of the penalties you are courting?" Ezra was unfazed "Relax Mr Caffery I am not prone to gambling. My status is legitimate, it is just not something which often comes up in my professional life. You need not fear that Agent Burke will get into trouble for an innocuous handshake. I have blanket permission for required casual touches during the course of pursuing my occupation. May I ask as one professional to another what gave me away? I had thought my appearance was sufficiently distinct to avoid easy recognition." Neal smiled and took a seat “What exactly will I get from you for revealing my secrets?” Ezra laughed delightedly “Ah a man after my own heart. Let us just say that I will owe you a favor.” Neal smiled in turn. “You have changed the obvious hair, eye color, manner of dress, even the way you carry yourself but anyone who ignores the surface distinctions can see it.” Then he smiled “No I am being unfair. It is true that I tend to remember people's features particularly someone with so dramatic an introduction since I have often used changes in surface characteristics myself. However due to my circumstances I tend to glance at people's ankles. Your anklet creates a subtle bulge at your ankle the way you are standing. The combination of familiar features and the bulge led me to conclude better to be safe than sorry.” Peter had been looking over Ezra closely and at Neal's words he blinked "Wait you're that what did they call it ... toy from last night." Chris glared at Ezra at that comment. "Ezra what exactly did you gloss over when you said it was somewhat of an eventful night." Ezra smiled sweetly at Chris and then turned to Neal “Mr Caffery if you would do the honor of explaining.”

After both teams were seated and Chris had been brought up to speed on the fact that an FBI raid had occurred at Tenabras' house he sighed. "Ok Ezra and what exactly does Dom have to say about us working with a team which is about as far from compliant with the protocols as it is possible to be?" Ezra smiled "Mr Larabee that is hardly fair. Certainly Mr Caffrey is more than familiar with all requirements. In fact Dom was so impressed that when he discovered he was on the team we would be working with he upgraded Neal's status so to speak. He felt it would be useful to have a local contact within the FBI with aligned interests." Chris glanced over as Neal laughed harshly "You're not serious." At Ezra's nod he continued "There is no way on earth I'm going to have that responsibility and go anywhere with Ray until Peter's agents have all been thoroughly trained." Peter interjected "Neal there is no need to be melodramatic. It has been forcefully brought to my attention that we were unaware of some very important facts. There is a complete seminar scheduled next week for me and all the other team members who missed it the first time. Surely someone can provide the highlights to allow us to do some basic investigating between now and then." Neal's response was succinct. "Fine, you want the short version. You never under any circumstances threaten a toy in any way or touch them without permission." Ezra laughed "Indeed Mr Caffrey that is a fair assessment. Fortunately we should be able to continue our search for Blane without transgressing any more boundaries wouldn't you agree? So tell us how you came across Blane and what you know of how he managed to escape."


	3. A Mistake

Peter looked up as Diana came into the room, carrying a folder and looking serious. "Boss I decided to do some research into these team 7 guys. They are interesting fellows and have a variety of different backgrounds but the one that concerns me is Agent Standish. He ... there are very strong indications that when he worked at his previous position in the FBI Atlanta office that he was corrupt, taking bribes to provide information about FBI activity there. If you combine that with the fact that he is a toy it paints a very troubling picture." Peter groaned, just what he did not need. He had been wary of the young agent since Neal had identified him. The idea of a Federal Agent staying with an, at best, former criminal did not sit well with him. How had the Agent become friendly with a man like Tenabras unless he was corrupt? Then this strange relationship with an ex-convict. He had looked up Dominic Torreto's background himself and had not liked what he found. Now he had to decide whether to confront the issue head on or have a quiet word with Larabee.

Everyone was settled in the conference room and Ezra was getting up to present their planned course of action when Peter stood up. He picked up the folders Diana had given him and dropped them in the center of the table. "Before we get started Agent Standish. I want some assurances that you are not a danger to my men. The allegations of corruption against you from the Atlanta Bureau are multiple and convincing." Peter had expected bluster or perhaps anger he had not expected the agent to pale and flinch as though he had been struck. The rest of team 7 leapt up and started yelling and he could have sworn one of the agents looked like he was going to draw on him before Ezra, apparently casually, stepped in the way. Agent Larabee finally yelled "Enough!" and the room subsided. Neal's voice cut across the quiet. "Ray would you like to go out for coffee. There is a place just down the street that makes a wonderful mocha." Agent Larabee looked at him with visible gratitude. "Josiah, Buck, Vin go with them."

The five men left and then Agent Larabee turned towards Peter and he felt himself recoil at the obvious menace in the man's face. "You ever attack one of my Agents again and I promise you will regret it." Larabee's face took on a grim smile. "With that particular one I won't even have to worry about any consequences." Peter opened his mouth to defend his position and closed it at the sharp "Shut up!" that was snapped out. "If you were truly concerned about your agents there were many different ways to handle it besides attempting to embarrass Ezra. So don't make excuses." Peter flushed but then sighed. "OK I admit I was embarrassed about being wrong footed by him the other day but .. Look don't you wonder how he ended up staying with Tenabras. It's probably some connection of his ex-convict friend but still.. " Larabee interrupted, looking at him almost pityingly. "Actually I know exactly how he met Tenabras. He rescued Tenabras' young daughter maybe a year ago after she was kidnapped. That was the same incident that caused Tenabras to go straight, because he had been vulnerable precisely because of his criminal activities. As for Dom don't judge him until you've met him. The rumors about Ezra were never prosecuted because he was never guilty. Someone was setting him up to cover up their own activities. He is, or more accurately was, independently wealthy so he would never have needed any payoffs in any case.” Peter flushed “Agent Larabee I apologize”. Larabee's response was cool and curt “Apologize to Ezra when he gets back. Now can we get back to a discussion on how to flush out Blane."


	4. Elizabeth

Peter was nervous. He agreed with Neal that having Team 7 over to his house to calm things down was a useful idea, but now that it was all set he was having second thoughts. He seemed to have been able to forge a professional if cool relationship with the agents, well with some of the agents. To be honest the calmest relationship was with Ezra himself. Agent Tanner did nothing but glare at him with open hostility and Agents Wilmington and Sanchez simply refused to acknowledge his existence. He had not been able to decide if that was better or worse than Jackson and Dunne's undisguised scorn. However with some pressure from Neal, who had naturally become fast friends with all the agents and particularly with Agent Standish, they had agreed to a meet and greet at his house. He had been very careful not to share his opinion of the team with El but he knew she could tell it was an uneasy relationship.

Neal was nervous, though he would not admit it. He had convinced Peter that the best way to get back on the right track with Team 7 was to revert to a more personal setting. If this did not work he was out of ideas. He sat with Ezra and Vin in the back row of the mini van feeling uncomfortable. Chris had almost flat out refused to rent the vehicle and Buck had not helped the situation any by laughing and calling Chris "Mom". What had finally sealed the deal was Ezra's drawling comment that it was a car which "perfectly captured your current overprotective and hovering persona". When he said it he had been so honestly amused that Neal suddenly realized how deeply unhappy he was generally. A piece of information which had only been confirmed by Chris smiling suddenly and agreeing to rent the car. As they drew up in front of the house Ezra stiffened and Neal suddenly decided that if this was going to be too hard for him they would end it here. "Hey, We don't have to do this you know. You can bow out with, I don't know a stomach flu or something?" Ezra visibly straightened at his comment "Unfortunately without my presence my compatriots are likely to behave like the complete barbarians they in fact are." Then he ducked to avoid the slap Vin aimed jokingly at his head. Ezra's voice was soft when he continued "Generally my feelings towards those who believe the rumors about me are purely dismissive, since those who believe such lies are generally contemptible and I treat them accordingly. However your Agent Burke is what is perhaps most simply expressed as 'one of the good guys' and knowing his disdain for me is somewhat ... painful upon occasion." Neal smiled "Well I can empathize with you there. It is hard to dismiss Peter's opinion as unimportant and his opinion of me has not always been the best." He felt himself fill with glee at the thought of these guys with Elizabeth. "At least you will all love Elizabeth and she will adore you."

Peter leaned back in his chair and relaxed, shooting a grin over at Chris. The rest of the team were playing a noisy game of Pictionary full of shouting and laughter. Ezra and Elizabeth had immediately co-opted Neal for their side and as a consequence were thrashing the other team even though with Buck, Nathan, Josiah, Vin and JD they technically had a 5 to 3 advantage. Peter still wasn't sure how Ezra and Neal had managed to con the others into that one. Apparently the two of them both talking could manage minor miracles. He found that he couldn't even think now about how things had been before this dinner without feeling guilty. Having seen Ezra interact with El he realized that his embarrassment and anger had led him on the wrong track, though he supposed Ezra was hard to read. Here and now, with his masks down, relaxing, Peter felt pained when he caught the occasional sidelong glances Ezra shot him. The younger man clearly expected disapproval from him. He caught another quick glance and winced and caught Chris looking at him with an odd mixture of sadness and amusement. "Took us a long time to get him to trust us." Chris said with a glance over at him. "He is a good man, but he doesn't have a lot of self worth and Atlanta did not help that any. He doesn't readily believe that people will give him a chance. You've done yourself no favors there." Chris glanced over at Elizabeth and smiled "However as Buck said 'There's got to be something to you if that lady married you' and she's accepted him as if he were a long lost brother. You might be able to get him to trust you if you work at it." Chris looked more seriously suddenly "He likes you, that's probably part of the problem. He'd probably throw himself in front of a bullet for you already. Before tonight he probably figured you'd happily shoot him given the chance. Now .. well if you're lucky he thinks you might be willing to give him a chance to prove himself." Peter admitted "I went back over his records, all of them this time. He shouldn't have to prove himself to anyone. His record speaks for itself." Chris smiled "That's what I always say too. You could always tell him that." Peter mulled it over then surprising himself yelled across the room. "Hey Ezra, I apologize for not doing my homework. I looked over all your records and it is blatantly obvious that you're an exceptional and honorable federal agent" Ezra looked stunned and then broke out into a smile so bright Peter had to smile back and saw answering smiles on the faces of all of team 7. It looked like finally things would be ok.

The party was finally winding down with everyone saying their goodbyes. Everything was going so well Peter had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, but nothing untoward happened and he had finally relaxed his guard. Of course that was when the trouble started. El turned to Ezra, who she had taken to calling Ray copying Neal, and said "Next time bring your husband, Dominic wasn't it?" Neal had also relaxed enough to have a couple of glasses of wine and so he responded with a laugh and said without thinking "Dominic isn't Ray's husband. He's his owner." Elizabeth had been stunned. She had thought it was a joke but when the rest of the team did not start laughing she had frowned. "I think you better explain that comment." Ezra had glanced over at Peter and then sighed. He had slid off his jacket and displayed the cuffs. Ezra's brief outline of his status had been enlightening for Peter as well. To Peter's surprise though, Elizabeth had been mostly amused. Her final comment had been "I can see how it would be a questionable relationship when initiated by someone in prison but it seems mostly a face-saving method for engaging in a homosexual relationship outside of that situation." Ezra had been visibly amused "You may be entirely correct my dear. However it does come with a few ... unique characteristics." and then gave them the full explanation. Peter had been appalled at the concept both of punishment and of the police condoning assault by the toy's owners. The idea that the police would allow someone to get away with assault for something as simple as touching a toy without permission was disconcerting. Ezra had suggested that perhaps he think of it simply as another form of diplomatic immunity but Peter had testily responded that the fact that the police would murder to defend toys was way beyond that. Finally Neal had explained that the police had no choice but to acquiesce to terms. There had been a few 'enterprising' police chiefs that had attempted to use threats and in some cases torture against toys to manipulate their owners. In response all the organized criminal elements had come together and responding by killing not just the people responsible but their friends and family as well. Since the deaths had been numerous and painful after a few such incidents the police had all come together and instituted the protocols for dealing with toys. Now things were stable. To Peter's surprise El had been a lot more pragmatic. She simply shrugged off Peter's horror and said "Honey, the system exists and I doubt there is anything anyone can do to change it." Then she grinned mischievously at Ezra and said "So do you ever end a standoff by taking off your shirt and saying, don't make me come in there!" Peter had never seen anyone as amused as Ezra was at that. He didn't think Ezra would ever stop laughing.


	5. Blane Resurfaces

Neal had put out the word among his connections that he was looking for any leads on Blane but he rarely knew anyone who was into violent crime so they had found no information. Peter had requested help from the other departments but they had all found nothing. Ezra had talked to Tenebras about him but he had indicated that he was not connected to any existing criminal organization. Blane was a new player. Probably his men were regular criminals but certainly he would pay them extremely well given that it was becoming clear that he could only have escaped by bribing the police. Peter was becoming frustrated and had started talking to various contacts himself, though advised against it by team 7. The team felt that all it would accomplish was to bring him to Blane's attention and he had already been proven to be dangerous. After a week with no results Peter's directors were starting to get frustrated, particularly since they were footing the bill for the participation of team 7. However it was pretty clear nothing was being accomplished and after yet another fruitless day Peter had everyone go home. They would start fresh in the morning. 

Peter was tired, it had been a long day and he could not wait to snuggle on the couch with El. He came in and closed the door behind him and paused, the house was too quiet "El!" The phone rang, it must be El calling to say she would be late. He picked it up "Hi honey you're finally the one who's late." The voice on the other end of the phone froze the blood in his veins. "Well Agent Burke you've been looking for me so hard are you glad you finally found me? Or should we be more accurate and say I found you? I was simply intending to leave you a message to explain the situation. However your wife had some interesting things to say. She told me you have access to a toy? I've always been interested in one but never had the opportunity, so I'm prepared to make you a trade. Your wife for the toy. I'll give you oh lets say 3 hours to decide and call you back on this number. Oh and we can hear everything you say so any attempt to bring anyone else in and the deal is void. If you need to meet the toy it better be at your home or in your office lobby." Peter finally gathered his thoughts together enough to talk. "Wait! How do I even know you have El. Or that she's .. she's still alive. It doesn't sound like my wife to offer to trade someone else for her safety." Blane laughed. "Oh she didn't, she threatened me with him. As if a toy could be a threat. She said you'd send him to come get her and then I'd have to let her go." "Let me speak to her!" Blane laughed then El's voice came on the line "Hi Honey" before Peter could even reply Blane was back on the line "You have 3 hours starting now."

Ezra's phone rang, to his surprise it was Peter on the line. "Ray I know it's late but could you meet me back at the office. I think we may have a lead on Blane. You need to come now if we are not going to lose the lead." Ezra paused, Dom had gone out for a late lunch and was still not back and the team were out with Neal. He had stayed behind because Dom had wanted them to go out with his friends for dinner. "Give me a minute to change, My attire is somewhat inappropriate for the FBI offices. Have you called the rest of the team?" Peter seemed uncharacteristically hesitant. "Um Yeah they'll meet us at the office. Don't worry about changing it'll only be me and your team and time is of the essence." Ezra sighed "In that case please ensure you or Chris meet me in the lobby I doubt you would wish one of Mr Tenebras' bodyguards to accompany me to the office but I doubt I will be allowed out of his sight unescorted." Peter's response was curt "I'll meet you in the lobby." then he rang off.

When he arrived at the FBI offices Ezra saw Peter waiting in the lobby. He waived off his Tenebras bodyguard and walked over to Peter ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the security officers due to his overtly sexual attire. Vin loved to call it his high class hooker look. They headed for the elevators and then Peter paused. "Wait can we go to my car. I forgot something." Ezra indicated that Peter should precede him. When they arrived at the car Peter turned and suddenly his gun was out and pointed at Ezra "I'm really sorry about this but ... you have to come with me." Ezra couldn't believe it. Nothing on earth would make Peter Burke turn against a fellow agent, except ... Elizabeth, it had to be Elizabeth. Ezra breathed her name. Peter sagged against the car suddenly. "I'm sorry I just ... oh god." with that he holstered his gun. Ezra imagined that the thought of Elizabeth's reaction to what he was about to do was overwhelming. Ezra looked at him, he could not allow Elizabeth to be hurt but he knew why Blane would want a toy. There was no way Dom would allow him anywhere near the man. He owed it to Dom to try to explain. However if he did not manage to get out at least alive if not unscathed it was a pointless exercise, so he was just going to have to pull it off. Suddenly at the thought of Elizabeth in the hands of a man like that anger flashed through him. Maybe he could try and get his team involved but that would make it less likely that Blane would get anywhere near him and he wanted Blane to go to prison on a charge no one could buy their way out of for doing this to Elizabeth. Ezra had to assume that they were being monitored though observation was unlikely so he kept his voice calm "Peter, I'm going to get Dom's permission to ah lend me out so to speak. It will be OK." Then he took a deep breath and called Dom. If he was in luck Dom would not currently be racing. Dom picked up the phone on the second ring. "Dominic I ... Peter needs to trade to get back Elizabeth he needs you to lend me out to Mr Blane. I realize that this is sudden but if you are willing to countenance such a trade .." He broke off at Dom's cursing. Dom's voice was adamant "Don't you dare Sunny. There is no way you are going anywhere near that guy given everything you have said about him. No." Ezra had not really expected anything else. Mindful of the possibility of bugs he responded "Thank you Sir. I do appreciate your cooperation in this manner." He hung up, and immediately switched off the phone. He knew Dom would try a few times and then call his team and probably ultimately the police, Eventually that would be strongly appreciated but they needed to get out of here now if he was going to help Elizabeth. He forced a smile "Well Peter that's all arranged now. Shall we go to our next destination?" Peter seemed stunned. Ezra got in the car and searched the glove compartment, they were in luck Peter had paper and a pen. He watched as Peter got in and started the car and then when they had pulled out of the parking garage started to write.

Peter could not believe it. Ezra was actually going along with this, he glanced over at him writing furiously. He still did not know if he could do this, there was no way Blane wanted anything good, but El would die unless Peter cooperated. How could he go along with this knowing ... Ezra was writing furiously and somehow keeping up a calm monologue. Peter didn't have to say much more than hmm and the occasional yes. All too soon they were pulling up in front of the house. It was another hour before Peter's time ran out but he was sure they would be watching. He doubted they would have more than a few minutes inside. Ezra followed him in and as soon as the door was closed passed over the paper he had been writing on. Peter read it quickly. 

_We will not have much time. Do not berate yourself over this, it is MY choice. I will attempt to stall and push off Blane as long as I can. If I can get him to injure me or even attempt to so much the better, whoever is working for him will probably balk at that. Do not worry about me losing my sense of caution. I am well aware you will be no better off if I push him into something fatal. I can walk away from this situation Elizabeth cannot. Tell Dominic that I am sorry. It is not about the case but rather about ensuring safety for Elizabeth. Tell my team and Neal they need not feel they have to shoulder any sense of blame. As soon as you have Elizabeth safe call 911 and report this. Tell the police "code Red' that will get you the right response. They WILL find me. You can be guaranteed of that._

As Peter finished reading the note the phone rang. He answered it, still unsure whether he should go through with this. "Agent Burke". "I see you have my little package. Your wife will be there within 10 minutes." Then Blane terminated the phone call.

Peter turned to Ezra. "Look Ray you don't have to .." Ezra interrupted him immediately "I'll go where I'm told Agent Burke. Once I'm there well then we'll see. I do have some latitude." Peter thought this was impossible, how could he communicate anything when he was being monitored. Ezra walked over and lifted the phone off the hook. "Do you have a coat, something a little less .. well bland than the one you are wearing?" Peter could not believe Ezra was talking about clothes at a time like this. Ezra tilted his phone towards Peter, of course if he kept the phone on they could track it. The phone was not ideal and they would have to ensure it was well hidden. If Neal was here Peter was sure he would have something perfect. Then he remembered. Neal had left one of his coats upstairs, a bright red one he almost never wore except when he was going undercover as one of his flashier personas. He knew that one had a secret inner pocket as well. "Hold on" He ran upstairs, there it was in the guestroom and his prayers were answered, one of their GPS watches was on the side table by the door. He slid the watch inside the pocket in the lining and zipped it closed then folded the fabric to hide it. "Here is this bright enough for you?" He handed it over carefully making sure that Ezra could feel the watch as he put the coat in his hand. Ezra responded with clear delight "That is perfect Agent Burke. It is so important to have an appropriate appearance." 

Before Peter could respond he heard a car horn from outside. God that had not been 10 minutes, probably Blane keeping him off balance. "There's your ride." They walked outside together to see a black SUV with El in the passenger seat. The door opened, a gun was pointed at El's head. "You can get out now lady" Peter saw that Ezra had carefully ensured his collar was visible. As Ezra stepped forward the driver pushed El into Peter's arms. Peter took heart from the fact that as soon as he saw Ezra he pointed the gun away from him, though he did grab him and pull him into the car. The car sped off down the street. El was crying "How could you." and hitting Peter quite hard with her fists. Peter had not expected anything less. He had to track Ezra to his destination but he needed to ensure the police would be ready to go. He pulled out his phone and called 911 "I need to report a code Red"

Peter kept the dispatcher on the phone while he quickly logged on to his laptop and turned on the tracking program. Elizabeth caught on quickly when she saw the tracking program come up. Peter indicated that they were bugged and she settled down without saying anything else. As soon as the tracker stopped he quickly wrote down the address and then took Elizabeth outside to make the report to 911. After he had alerted 911 he called Neal. He knew Neal was with Team 7 and they would want to go to the address. He did not want to alert Blane in case he was still listening and had bugs in the car. Neal answered the phone with "Peter please tell me that you didn't grab Ezra and trade him for Elizabeth. If anything happens to him the consequences will be dire. Not to mention even if he comes back safely Dom might well kill you." Peter's response was brief, he gave the address where the GPS showed Ezra was and told Neal to meet him there and indicated that he would have to hang up because his car was bugged. Before Peter hung up Chris came on the phone his voice was cold. "Agent Burke I would advise staying well away from Dom." El insisted that she was coming with Peter so they both got in his car and took off for the address.


	6. More trouble than you can imagine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning there is dubious consent and theatened rape in this chapter and relatively minor violence

Ezra was encouraged by the fact that the driver was unwilling to point the gun at him, though it was troubling that he was participating in a kidnapping of a toy. At least the awareness that they could not threaten him indicated that his intelligence was correct and Blane's bodyguards were professionals. Of course Ezra could take it in stride since he had been kidnapped before and these circumstances were a lot closer to the situation with Turturo than those with Saul. It was even possible the driver was under the impression that his owner had agreed for him to go to Blane. Currently he wanted to maintain that impression and reinforce the idea that he was nothing more than a fragile toy. Sooner than he would have expected, though much longer than the time it had taken to bring Elizabeth to the house, they were pulling up before a brownstone.

Ezra followed the driver quietly and they were shown into an office towards the back of the house. Ezra entered and found Blane there with another of his large enforcers present. He would have preferred Blane be alone. He was pretty sure he could take him out and perhaps slip out a window. Now, he would have to trust that the gorilla would intervene if Blane was excessively rough or at least be wary of interacting with Ezra. Blane stood up and walked around him, the expression of lust in his eyes made Ezra uncomfortable. Finally Blane ran his hand down Ezra's chest and Ezra could not suppress a flinch, stepping back. "Kneel!" Ezra followed his instructions for now. He still hoped that Blane was not so much of an exhibitionist that he would try anything significant in front of an audience. Blane laughed with glee. "Let's see what I've got myself. Start by stripping off that shirt." Ezra felt uncomfortable. This was too close to submitting to Blane for his liking but he was still trying to play the odds. He was in enough trouble with Dom without adding getting hurt into the mix. Right now he was both stalling for time for the police to track the watch and ensuring that he appeared harmless, helpless. He complied again keeping a tight reign on his reactions. Blane circled him again running his hands over Ezra's chest and back. "Oh very nice. I will enjoy having possession of this body. Let's see if the rest of you is as delectable. Take the rest of it off." Ezra took a deep breath, hating this. He slipped off his shorts without fanfare and allowed himself to be inspected again. He suppressed the urge to fight, to flee with some difficulty. Finally Blane smiled "Well lets see if you've been trained in pleasure as well." He unzipped his pants. "How good can you make me feel?" That was enough for Ezra he was well outside his comfort zone and was not prepared to go any further. Even this was more than he had wanted, for better or worse it was time to play his hand. "Mr Blane I regret that I have to disappoint you but I'm afraid I am not going to be able to accommodate your wishes."

Swift as a striking snake Blane backhanded him hard, hard enough that it knocked Ezra to the ground and split his lip. "Did you really think I was giving you a choice boy?" Without warning he kicked toward Ezra hard. Ezra tried to roll with the blow but it connected hard enough to knock the breath out of him. Blane reached down and grabbed his arm. Ezra tried to push against him and received another backhand across the face for his trouble. "I thought toys were more well trained than this. Really I'm disappointed." He pushed Ezra down over the desk. "You can be willing or not but I'm getting what I want." That was it for Ezra he stopped pretending helplessness and kicked back hard knocking Blane backwards. As he turned and stood up Blane pulled a gun from his coat pocket and pointed it at Ezra. "I think you just made a really bad mistake. No one defies me." Ezra put up his hands in surrender "Now let us not be too hasty there is always room for negotiation." The safety was flipped off the gun. Ezra prepared to make a dive for Blane when he saw Blane's bodyguard who was behind the arms dealer moving. There was a gun in his hand and he brought it down hard on Blane's head. Blane went down immediately. The bodyguard sighed "Pity, that was the best damn paycheck I ever had" Ezra made a beeline for his clothes and as he was pulling on his shorts he heard a crash and shouts of "NYPD!" from the front of the house. Well it seemed that Peter's GPS had brought the cavalry. Ezra could not help a smile. He suspected that Blane would find his money now useless. No cop no matter how corrupt would take money to help someone jailed on a charge of assault and attempted murder of a toy.


	7. Consequences

Chris pulled up and was relieved to see at least 4 police cars as well as a police van. Looked like it was all over. The team tumbled out of the van and could see Ezra standing on the top step of a brownstone. There was a police officer next to him as well as one stationed at the bottom of the steps. Chris moved towards him and was immediately stopped by the officer who had drawn his gun. "I'm sorry sir but you can't approach." Chris snapped back "I'm one of his bodyguards!" however the officer still prevented him from proceeding. "That is helpful sir but unfortunately due to the circumstances unless you are a guardian..." Neal interrupted at that "I'm a registered guardian." Chris started in surprise, well that explained Ezra's earlier cryptic comment. The officer asked Neal his name and walked over to his car to input the information. Once he had verified things to his satisfaction Neal was allowed to pass. Just as Neal went up the steps towards Ezra Chris heard a car pull up and Peter jumped out. 

Chris was still deciding whether to control his overwhelming desire to take a swing at Peter when another car came screeching to a halt and Dom jumped out. Chris immediately pushed Peter back and stood in front of him but Dom barely glanced in his direction. His eyes were fixed on Ezra. Dom walked over to the officer in charge and showed his ID. They were too far away to be heard but Chris could see Dom getting more and more angry as the officer talked. Finally he nodded and then turned to Ezra stalking up the steps to stand in front of him. Ezra's voice was quiet but Chris was close enough to hear him say "Sir, please I apologize." Chris got a really bad feeling as Dom just stood for a second looking down at him. Ezra seemed frozen just looking up into his eyes, not saying anything more. Then Chris felt a chill down his back as Ezra simply dropped to his knees without saying a word. This was really bad. Dom finally spoke "I got a full report. If that bodyguard had not intervened you could have been killed. As it was that bastard came too damn close to raping you. You broke your word that you would never endanger yourself for a case again." Ezra paled "No! Dom I was not just trying to close a case. I had to do everything in my power to save Elizabeth." Dom's voice was hard "You knew he was a new player and had no idea what a toy was. That he would think that he could buy his way out of hurting you the way he bought himself out of custody." Ezra shook his head "I knew his bodyguards were professionals. We were able to ascertain that much, they would never have allowed my life to be endangered." Dom seemed to get even angrier "You blatantly disobeyed me, risking things you have no right to risk. You belong to me and what? You forgot that? Fine! You have a guardian. You can be his responsibility." Dom reached down and then to Chris' horror reached his hands around the collar on Ezra's neck. There was a sharp snap and then Ezra's collar came away in Dom's hand. Dom turned and walked down the stairs towards his car. Buck stepped in front of him before he reached it saying "No Dom you can't ..." Dom punched him once in the stomach and then stepped over him as he fell and entering the car again sped away.


	8. We are fixing this

Elizabeth had looked on with sorrow at the byplay between Ezra and Dom. Then as he sped away she saw his team and Neal standing motionless and knew that had to be fixed, so she moved. The officer at the bottom of the stairs initially moved to stop her but he glanced at Neal who nodded and he allowed her to pass. She walked up to where Ezra was still kneeing and pulled him gently into her arms. He did not resist, wrapping his arms around her and dropping his head on her shoulder. She felt no tears, but he was shaking. She looked up at Neal and then over at Peter who had followed her. "We are fixing this. This is not happening because of me." Peter started to say it was not her fault but she dismissed him. "It is not, but he made this choice because of me I will not accept this as the consequences of that." She looked over at Neal "Can you explain what happened for me are they .. over." Neal looked at her life coming back into his eyes. She could see he was shocked but having to explain was calming him. "No. It is not so easy to terminate one of these contracts. Since the relationship is so uneven the owner's obligation persists pretty much regardless of anything. Essentially Dom has only transferred direct responsibility to me. If I had not been here it is not clear he could even do that much. Emotionally of course, it's more complicated." Elizabeth nodded and her eyes sought out Chris who had followed her to Ezra's side. "Chris is there someone who could talk some sense into Dom?" Chris looked at her and grinned suddenly "Actually yes and it just so happens I have her number."

Chris dialed Mia and explained the whole situation to her. She got very quiet and then told him to hold on while she talked to Brian. Chris waited and after a while Brian got on the phone. "Mia is um a little busy smashing things and calling Dom an idiot. She says he needs time to calm down but she will call him in a couple of hours and yell at him. However I know Dom as well as she does and the best way to break him out of this is to threaten to make what he did real. You said he has a guardian there right. The guardian needs to threaten to file an abuse charge against Dom to take Ray away. It's even legitimate since I agree with Mia this is certainly likely to have long term emotional repercussions, which Dom is sworn to prevent. The other thing you need to do is make sure that the next time Ray sees Dom he is dressed as Agent Standish. Dom needs to start thinking of this as the unavoidable actions of a Agent doing his job, and not a betrayal by his toy. I'll have Mia call you after she talks to Dom." Brian's voice grew serious. "Think he's up to talking to me?" In answer Chris pushed the phone towards Ezra and stated "Brian wants to talk to you." Ezra's head came up and though his eyes were dry the pain in them made Chris want to shoot something. He took the phone and greeted Brian. Chris could not hear their conversation and Ezra did not say much but he did start to look better. Ezra eventually gave a tentative smile and then an honest laugh. Finally he handed back the phone and when his eyes looked back at Chris there was still pain there but a calm was present as well that Chris had not expected and was glad to see. "Mia wishes to inform you that you are not to shoot Dom because she reserves that right for herself." Chris turned and found the whole team had made their way onto the steps. "Well time to clear out of here. We need to go back to the estate and get some clothes for Ezra and then wait for Mia's call." 

Neal sighed, this whole thing was a mess and now he was going to have to strain his relationship with Peter. He was not happy about this but it was unavoidable. "Wait we need to clear a couple things up first." He turned to Peter "I'm sorry Peter but you're suspended. You need to hand your gun and badge to the officer. I suspect you in particular will need police permission to resume your responsibilities." Peter's jaw dropped in shock "You can't suspend me." Neal looked at him calmly "Actually in this case I can. Look someone is responsible for Ray having been kidnapped and assaulted and the police are not going to overlook it. If Ray's team had recovered him then maybe we could have passed it off as an undercover operation gone bad but this was a straightforward rescue of a registered toy. One who was bodyguarded by you. The only other way for this to go at this point is for you to shift the blame to Ray's team." Peter shook his head "No. That's not acceptable." Neal looked at him "I told you that there was too much you did not understand. You thought I was joking when I said I did not want to work this case with you when you did not understand the ramifications. I was not kidding." Peter looked at him then removed his badge and gun and walked over with Neal to hand them to the officer. "Any other consequences." The officer answered that one. "Yes. Mr Caffery has explained that this mess is the result of you and other agents in your office interacting with a toy without knowing the protocols. As a result all operations out of your office are suspended until every last agent gets cleared on operating procedures." The officer turned to Neal. "Sir not to rush you but we would appreciate the opportunity to close this out. There is going to be a lot of heat on this operation." Neal nodded and they all moved to the cars. Neal did not think Chris would want to tolerate Ezra riding with Peter but he needed to get the story setup as soon as possible. With some juggling Peter and Elizabeth took places in the van and Buck, Vin and Josiah followed in Peter's car. Neal thought it would be best to have those three out of reach of Peter for a while anyway.

In the car Neal continued their conversation. "Chris we need to present this as a bodyguarding job gone wrong and not as, well, what it was." Chris' voice was hard. "Why should we lie for your Agent Burke." Ezra interrupted at that "It was my choice Chris he is not to blame." Neal stopped him "There is plenty of blame to go around. Peter should have done some things differently I agree, as he would have if he really knew protocols. Suppose Peter had called Chris and pretended to be talking to Ezra. This whole incident could have gone down with team 7 as close in backup. In fact Dom might well have agreed to it in that case." Neal turned to Ezra "Why Ezra? You could have done the same thing. Why set yourself up for the sacrifice play?" Ezra looked away. "I couldn't risk Elizabeth and I believed that this was the most efficacious way ..." "To ensure Blane was neutralized right?" Ezra flushed and nodded at Neal's insight. "Your team might have wanted to make the trade and then pull you out." Ezra's eyes flashed "He took Elizabeth. I wanted him to pay for that and I could not be sure she was safe unless he was in on a charge no one could get away with." Neal sighed "You know I was really hoping to get out of this without having to punish you." J.D. turned at that and interrupted "Now wait a minute nobody but Dom gets to do that." Ezra looked stubborn "I made a decision as a federal undercover agent." Neal snapped at that "Stop being obtuse. You called Dom to get permission. At that second you stopped having the right to make those decisions without paying for them and you know it." Suddenly his eyes met Ezra's with a twinkle "Look at it this way Ray. I suspect Dom will go ballistic at the idea. So it will ensure he takes responsibility for you again faster than anything else." He was glad to see an honest smile of agreement on Ezra's face at that statement. Neal turned to Peter again "The reason for the council's existence in the first place is to ensure that when faced with the choice you were given you choose to protect the toy above all else. If something fatal happened to Ezra, the council would go after everyone. It would not just be you and Elizabeth but your families and friends that would pay for it. Ezra's team would not survive it, nor would I, neither would the police commissioner or the captain of that precinct or probably most of the FBI directors." Peter blanched and Neal felt like he was finally getting through. Ezra interjected then "Agent Burke did in fact decline to follow through and it was I who ultimately decided to contact Blane." Neal looked at Peter "Peter is a good man and so we're going to save his career and call this a bodyguard being careless right?" Neal looked at Chris he was silent. Ezra interjected then "Chris please, If Dom ... I do not wish to be responsible for any more destruction." Chris growled "He is responsible not you." Ezra's voice was still soft but sincere "He panicked, he made a mistake with his wife's life at risk. Please Chris." Chris sighed softly "Ok but if he ever..." "No" Peter responded at that "I was wrong. I should have trusted your team. I am sorry and I will never again do anything deliberately that would hurt any of your agents Agent Larabee. I give you my word."


	9. Know what you are asking

The atmosphere in the hotel room was tense. Ezra and Peter had explained exactly what happened since the team needed to know the real account if they were going to cover it with their story. To say team 7 did not appreciate Peter's actions was the understatement of the year. Neal could almost feel the animosity from team 7 directed towards Peter. Ezra was cuddled on the couch next to Elizabeth and Peter was orbiting between sitting next to her and moving away towards the window when the glares of the ATF Agents became to much for him. Finally Elizabeth looked around at the agents and said cheerily "You know why don't you guys just take Peter out into the hall and beat him up a bit. Relieve your feelings. I have to admit I'm mad at him too." Everyone gaped at her and then the room erupted into laughter. Vin surprisingly was the one who spoke next. "I guess we'll have to forgive you. None of us would let anything happen to her either." Without warning Nathan strode forward and slapped Peter hard across the face. At the gasps of astonishment he shrugged. "The rest of you usually get the chance to slap people around it was about time I got a turn." The room rang with laughter again and this time there was calm when it was over. Chris turned to Peter "Generally you'd earn my team's undying enmity for that stunt but I guess you married really well." Peter finally smiled "I get that a lot." So Buck turned to Neal "Now what? We wait for Mia to call?" "Well" Neal responded "Actually you guys clear out of here for my little 'discussion' with Ezra." As Peter walked towards the door Neal called him back. "No Peter you get to stay."

Peter was not sure what Neal was talking about or why he was there. Neal's first words to Ezra threw some light on the matter. "So got any arguments to make about why you don't deserve to be punished?" To Peter's surprise Ezra did not respond. Neal groaned "All right go and stand against the wall." Peter was shocked when Ezra went with no protest, and then flabbergasted when he dropped his shorts and underwear and he saw Neal taking off his belt. "Wait! What the hell is going on here!" Neal looked at him and Peter could not believe how calm he was. "Seems pretty clear. I'm punishing Ezra for disrespect and disobedience." Peter was stunned "You can't mean to beat him!" Neal was matter of fact. "That's exactly what I'm going to do. How many Ray?" Ezra's response was short "60" "That's more than I would have said." "This is unfortunately not the first time I have been caught out disobeying Dominic on a matter touching upon my safety. It has been a while but I know the score so to speak". Peter stepped in front of Ezra "No!" Neal looked at him. "I'm going through with this for multiple reasons. One is a conversation I had with Chris. Ezra has trouble letting go of guilt. This works. If he has been punished he does not need to worry about it any more. He is also much less likely to consider any such actions in the future if I punish him now. Which is why Dom started doing this in the first place. Also if nothing else gets Dom's head screwed on straight this will. Finally you had no idea what you were asking him to risk encouraging him to disobey Dom. That's why you're here watching. So you know what consequences he was expecting when he helped you. Now stand away Peter. Or I'll have to have one of his team come in here and hold you. Do you really want to do that to them?"

If Peter had been asked beforehand he would have assumed his reaction to watching Neal take a belt to Ezra would have been mostly embarrassment, but he found that most of the time he was just conscious of guilt and sorrow. At first he was just embarrassed watching Ezra’s skin go pink and then red but it soon became clear that the pain was considerable and he found that hard to take. What he always remembered afterwards was a few standout instances. The first gasp of pain Ezra made when it was too much to suppress and then the tears. When Ezra had first started crying he couldn't help himself. He demanded that Neal stop. Neal looked at him coolly then turned to Ezra ignoring him. Ezra's response was clear "Dominic would have done 60 because that is enough to ensure I never consider such actions lightly" After that Neal explained while he continued "40 would be pretty standard for any kind of disobedience. 60 is reserved for a severe punishment for actions which are completely unacceptable." Peter found tears standing in his eyes and was not ashamed of them. When it was finally over he felt nothing but relief. To his surprise Ezra turned into Neal's arms clearly seeking comfort. "Don't you resent him for hurting you?" Peter asked before he could stop himself. Ezra seemed surprised by the question. "No I agreed with his reasoning and I had no valid defense." His smile was wry. "I would far rather Dominic had done this or worse rather than ..." Neal shushed him promising it would be OK. Peter went to the door. He needed air after that. When he opened the door Chris was there. "Mia called."


	10. Reconcilliation

Ezra was supremely nervous. He knew that it was virtually certain that Dominic would respond to Neal's call the way they wanted. Nevertheless part of him was still afraid that Dom would decide he was more trouble than he was worth. The team was currently arguing over who and how many of them should be present when Dom came. It was reassuring since there was no 'if' of any kind being debated. Finally Chris barked "Ok Neal I think it would be a good idea if there was at least one of us present in case Dom decides to take a swing at you. Peter should definitely not be here." Chris turned to Elizabeth "Shall one of us take the two of you home?" Elizabeth crossed her arms and looked stubborn. "I am not leaving until I know this has all been sorted out!" Chris threw up his arms in despair. "Fine the two of you can wait in Josiah and Nathan's room." "I'm staying. Everyone else out." The rest of the team filed out. Then Chris looked at Neal - "Ok. Place the call." 

Neal forced himself to relax. He knew any tension would communicate itself to Ezra and he did not want him any more uptight than he already was. He dialed Dom. Dom's "Mr Caffrey" was bland and unwelcoming. Neal mused he had probably picked up the habit of using formality to maintain distance from Ezra. "Mr Toretto. I think it only fair to warn you that I am considering filing abuse charges against you for your treatment of Ezra Standish." "What! You have the nerve ... " Neal cut him off. Might as well get it all said at once. "I have taken charge of him since I was the only guardian present and I am currently moving him in with his team in order to increase his security. I felt it might be awkward to impose on Mr Tenebras since that is your current residence. We are in the process of moving his belonging out. I have already punished him for his transgressions but I was wondering if ..." Dom cut him off "Wait you've already what!" "As I said I have already punished him for his disobedience. 60 strokes with the belt." Dom's growl was frightening and satisfying at once. "You, took a belt to Sunny. Nobody touches him but me." Neal made his tone bland "Well since you've relinquished direct responsibility currently I took it upon myself to take him in hand. He is not currently very well trained but .." Dom cut him off "You touch him again and I'll break your neck. Where are you?" "Currently we are in Mr Larabee's hotel room. Mr Toretto .." Neal heard only a dial tone Dom had hung up. Neal grinned at Ezra "Well that went well." Chris looked at Neal "You are sure you want to be here?" Neal sighed "It does not really matter what I want. Currently Ray is my responsibility until Dom ah … regains it. I cannot designate you a guardian. Only he could do that and honestly, I would not recommend it. However I would appreciate you ensuring he does not follow through on the threat to break my neck.” Ezra looked at them “I'm sure Dom is not in the mood to obey traffic laws, he may be here in around half an hour.” He was wrong it took only ten minutes before Dom was banging on the door. Chris was pleased "Well Mia's discussion lit a fire under him. I guess he was hanging around the hotel. Probably a good sign."

Ezra could not have described how he felt when Chris opened the door and Dom was standing there. He was wearing one of his best Armani suits as Brian had suggested and yet on some level he felt like dropping to his knees, even though they almost never did that and certainly not when he was dressed like this, as the Federal Agent. He wondered if Chris and Neal were not there if he would have done it anyway. Dom walked over to him silently not even glancing at anything else in the room and then, he was stunned, because Dom dropped to his knees and offered up the collar in his hands. Ezra took it and reached up to snap it around his neck before he did anything else. Then he placed his hands inside Dom's. Dom looked at him and Ezra could see his eyes were wet. Dom's voice was harsh "I don't even know how to apologize Ezra. Nothing on earth should have pushed me to do that to you. I offer no excuse, none is possible. I am so sorry. I do not know what else to say." Ezra could not believe it. He had agreed for the most part that Dom would take him back. The idea of such an abject apology had never crossed his mind. "I'm sorry too. I could have handled it with more decorum." Dom cut him off "No. Regardless what I did was unacceptable." Suddenly he turned at looked at Neal. His voice was filled with anger. "Besides I hear you've already paid for whatever you did wrong. Or was that just said to make me realize how moronic I was being." Neal's voice was serious "I would not lie about something like that Dom. It would be foolish." Suddenly he grinned "I have not yet taken any steps to file charges. Though you would deserve it." Ezra turned to him, angry "That is uncalled for." However to his surprise Dom relaxed. "No Sunny he's right." Ezra felt something in him relax at that. He knew why Dom had called him Ezra in the apology but it still felt better to have him resume the more common pet name. Chris stepped forward then. He was as serious as Ezra had seen him. "Don't you ever hurt Ezra like that again Dom. The first time you did this to him I didn't even know it. I doubt he'd let me punch your lights out now but what you did, it's worse than what Peter did with less excuse." Ezra wanted to object but he wasn't sure he could and be honest about it. Chris smiled suddenly "Now will you please make Ez go to the hospital. Nathan has a suspicion those ribs are cracked. He doesn't think they need taping but a painkiller would not go amiss." Dom stood up and looked at Ezra then with a sigh scooped him up gently. "Ok where do we go?"


	11. The Seminar: Figuring out the basics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how do others deal with this toy stuff anyway?

Peter's suspension had finally been lifted and boy had it been weird to have to consult Neal about when that would happen. He had been afraid that Neal would take the opportunity to torment him, but Neal had handled it better than he had expected. In fact Neal had initially suggested only one week. Peter knew the FBI bureaucracy better however and he knew that a suspension that short would not be taken seriously. He had argued for a month because that was the indication of a serious offense. However Neal had pointed out that since the NYPD absolutely refused to allow any FBI ops until the seminar was held with all agents present, and that included him, it was unfair for all work to be put on hold for a month. They had compromised on 2 weeks especially since the police insisted that they have the full week seminar. Peter was somewhat nervous about the fact that Dom and Ezra were going to be guests at the seminar. Before the rest of team 7 had left Peter and Elizabeth threw another dinner party which had included Dom. Peter had spent the party unable to relax due to Dom's hostility and this was before Dom actually had the complete story on what had happened. The team had agreed to wait to tell him until after he had the chance to interact calmly with Peter and Elizabeth. Now Dom did know the complete truth so this would be the real test.

The first couple days of the seminar went well. Peter even managed to get some positive comments from the police detective teaching the course. They were really teaching basics at this point, never point a gun at a toy, never threaten one directly or indirectly, no arrest, and don't touch without permission. There was also a section for Senior agents and directors on protocols which, while detailed, came down to avoid any location where toys are known to be present and if you have to go into such a location never have guns drawn no matter the provocation. Peter knew it was going to get interesting tomorrow though because the next couple of days were when Ezra and Dom were visiting. 

When the Agents arrived at the office they were told that they were going to do an offsite roleplay. Each team was given a time to arrive at the location. Peter's team were supposed to arrive first at 10am. Peter spread his agents out and then at a signal they all entered calling out "FBI nobody move." However as the 'criminals' started to drawn guns in response one of the 'perps' called out 'toy!' and all the other 'perps' dropped all weapons. Peter remembered that from their first bust with Ezra and called a "code T". He was gratified to see all his agents immediately ensured their weapons were either down or holstered. As they moved around cuffing the 'perps' all the agents kept an eye out for any sign of a toy. Peter thought it would be easy since his team knew they were looking for Ezra but there was no sign of him. Finally the roleplay was over with no sign of any toy. Peter sighed "Ok guys what did we do wrong?" The instructor entered the warehouse. "You knew from the reaction of the criminals that a toy had to be present. So you should have been more careful about checking." The officer waved his hand and Dom exited the van. He looked at Peter visibly amused "Actually you had bad luck. I told them I was not willing to have anyone but you touch Sunny. As it happened you were the one who cuffed him so I allowed it. If anyone else on your team had tried it the instructor would have grabbed them and halted the exercise." Peter gaped at Dom in astonishment. "So I guess you're not going to kill me then?" One of the two 'criminals' Peter had apprehended turned to him and smiled "No he's not." Then he unexpectedly brought his hands in front of him and gave Peter his handcuffs grinning "Here are your cuffs." 

Peter looked over the man he had cuffed, he bore no resemblance to Ezra. He seemed taller and darker, the hair was the wrong color, not even the nose or shape of the face was the same. Peter shook his head in amazement. Despite the differences between them 'Ray' and 'Agent Standish' were still fundamentally similar looking. This was different. He had not thought such a transformation was possible. "Trying to make it challenging to connect the dots?" Ezra laughed and nodded. Out of curiosity Peter ran his hand up Ezra's arm which was covered by a sleeve. He felt the cuff just below the elbow. "Huh you do have it on." Ezra looked at him his eyes dancing with amusement "You know there is a reason agents are advised not to touch toys. What you just did could readily be interpreted as a challenge for ownership." Peter gulped and looked around and Dom was looking extremely unamused. The instructor was glowering at him and Peter had the feeling he would have had a weapon pointed at his face if Ezra was not nearby. Peter lifted his hand and backed off glancing at Dom "Sorry". The instructor turned to Dom "Mr Toretto I apologize. I promise I did instruct all these agents on basic protocol.." Dom cut him off with a smile "Do not worry about it. Agent Burke is a personal friend so he is finding it difficult to treat Ray in a formal manner". The instructor visibly relaxed and Peter glanced at Ezra who shrugged and mouthed "He likes Elizabeth". Peter sighed in relief.

Peter's team was allowed to sit and watch the cameras as the other divisions went through the same exercise. The next team up was the Organized Crime division. Peter had quietly hoped that they would do worse than his team. He asked the instructor what the actual scenario they were playing out was. The instructor's response was enlightening. "We have two powerful criminals meeting for the first time. One of them has a toy so he's bringing him to impress the other, however he wants it to be a suprise play, hence the toy is dressed as you saw, with nothing obvious. Your team has broken in just after the toy has been presented, so the major criminals are all aware that a toy is in the building." Peter remembered how everyone in Tenebras' house had dropped their guns so he knew that part of the scenario was realistic. He watched the Organized Crime team enter the building but the second the guns dropped there was a call "Code Pink..., Sorry code T" and all the agents guns were holstered. The instructor laughed "I figured the Organized Crime guys would be well aware. They've probably been arguing about this being standard procedure for years." To Peter's surprise the agents easily identified Ezra and when the instructor brought him over at the end of the drill Ezra was standing uncuffed and at his 'owner's' side while there was an agent clearly guarding him. Peter couldn't help it he had to ask "How did you know?" The agent looked at him in surprise and then laughed. Peter heard Ruiz behind him also laughing. "Well Peter you could have pointed out the two most powerful guys in the room right?" Peter acknowledged that. Ruiz was matter of fact. "So the toy has to belong to one of them. There was only one who had another gentleman inside his personal space. Besides which, if you were paying attention to little details, even though everyone jumped up on our entry the first thing the owner did was press the toy down into the chair, which is of course more out of the line of fire." Ruiz looked at Peter and was serious "If my guys didn't notice this kind of stuff we would all have been in deep trouble several times over." By now Dom had also appeared from the surveillance station where he was watching. Ruiz turned to him "Mr Toretto I hear we have you to thank that this FBI office is finally taking the idea of toys seriously." Peter could tell how sincere Ruiz was. Dom looked at him and then responded in kind "My pleasure." 

After that Ruiz's team joined them watching the other two divisions go through the exercise. Neither of the other two teams did as well as Peter's. In fact one of agents on the last team actually got punched out by Dom for handling Ezra roughly. After the last team was finished the instructor called all the division heads together and wanted to know what disciplinary action was going to be taken against the agent in question. The head of the team appeared stunned "It was an honest mistake!" Ruiz was as incensed as the officer in charge of the seminar. "You don't get to make mistakes like that! He should at least be suspended for a week. If he was on my team he would be taken off field ops for 3 months." The officer agreed "Either you do something to drive home the fact that the FBI takes this seriously or we are going to flag him as persona non grata on all operations in which we participate." Finally the agent got it. "You really mean all this stuff we're supposed to treat these toys as if they're heads of states or something." Ruiz nodded "That would be a good analogy."


	12. The Seminar: Now for a real challenge

For the next day of the seminar everyone was gathered together for a lecture before the offsite drill. The officer was more serious than Peter had seen him before. "Here is the deal. We have arranged for a very complicated scenario which will include actual criminals participating, although we will not tell them that it is just an exercise, we'll just make sure we are the ones handing out the weapons which will be paintball guns. The criminals' guns are loaded with red ammo. Every other agent has different colored paint balls. You have not been informed going in that there is a toy on the premises nor will he be readily identifiable purely from his clothing. However in the interests of realism he will have somewhat visible collar and cuffs. Let me make this clear. If paint from your gun is on the toy after this exercise you will fail this course, you will be suspended without pay for a week and you will have one more chance to take this course. If you fail again you will be flagged and you will never have anything but a desk job in any law enforcement agency in the country. Any questions?" There were a few questions about the team formation. The exercise was being run with White Collar and Missing Persons on one team and Organized Crime and Violent Crime on the other. Ruiz and Peter were the leads since the police officers did not trust the team leads who had problems with the simpler roleplay the day before. Peter's team was again going first. 

They were allowed to watch the initial setup from their surveillance van. The cameras showed lots of activity with groups of men stacking trucks full of boxes. The instructor had told Peter it was up to him to decide when to move in but that he had to wait at least 5 minutes after the start for Dom and Ezra to show up. After about 3 minutes Peter noted the back door to the warehouse open and Dom and Ezra strolled in. Peter watched Dom greet the fellow in charge enthusiastically. A few minutes after Dom began chatting to his friend Ezra strolled off to look at what was being loaded. Peter wanted a break in the activity and a few minutes after they arrived one of the trucks was apparently filled and the activity slowed down. Peter had not been able to clearly see a good indication of Ezra's status since he was wearing a long sleeved collared shirt. There had only been partial questionable glimpses. He was amused to note however that both Diana and Clint had noticed these and pointed them out as a possible issue. He decided to bring in Neal to consult. They had showed him the footage and he had flatly stated that Ezra was a toy and point blank refused to approach the building. Peter called over the instructor at that point. The instructor asked whether he would call a raid at this point and Peter admitted that now he would not. He consulted with the Senior Agent from Missing Persons and he admitted that he might go ahead. That got him a stern lecture from the instructor but they decided to go ahead with the stated warning "Possible toy in the building" and including a description of Ezra. This was not as useful as it might be since his clothes were nondescript and he currently had black hair, which was pretty ubiquitous. Peter gave the order to move out.

The agents moved forward calling out "FBI nobody move" and the reaction was a combination of fleeing for the exits and in a few cases moving to more defensible positions. The effect on Dom and his friend was electrifying though. His friend immediately called out "Guns down, guns down, Toy" and every criminal who was in range of his voice immediately dropped their weapons. Dom meanwhile ran for Ezra who was moving towards the shelter of one of the trucks. As he moved his collar became more visible and the effect on the criminals who had not already dropped their weapons was electrifying. A couple placed high up on the catwalks had started firing but they were in a position to see Ezra and their guns dropped from their hands as quickly as if they had been shot. Peter was pleased to hear the "Code T" called out but some of the agents were slow and Peter watched in discomfort as a paint ball hit Ezra in the chest. Then Dom was in front of him grabbing and rolling as one more paint ball splattered across Dom's back and then all guns were down. The criminals inadvertently taking part in the drill were terrified and all of them had insisted on meeting Ezra to reassure themselves that he was fine. In fact Peter heard more than one criminal vowing to go straight because they believed the FBI to be suicidal. 

At the debriefing afterwards the instructor led them through the warehouse. It was pointed out that none of the criminal's 'bullets' had come anywhere near Ezra even though they had been initially unaware of the presence of a toy whereas the agents had been warned. After examining the area near Ezra's position the instructor had pulled out and failed two more agents. Finally they had ended with a frightening lecture on why it was better to be shot than to go into a situation with a possible toy with your gun drawn. Finally the day was over and all the agents except Peter were sent home. 

Peter stayed to watch Ruiz' team performance and it was certainly interesting. Once two of his agents had identified a possible toy Ruiz and his men flatly refused to proceed as long as the toy was present. The head of violent crime had asked him if that was realistic and he laughed. "It has happened before in reality. None of us were ever willing to take the chance. We can always come back." The Violent crime team leader had admitted he would go forward if pressured by the directors so in the end only his team had taken part in the exercise. It was an interesting display of everything that could go wrong and in the end 2 agents had to be tackled by the criminals and even so Ezra was hit by paint balls from 3 others. Peter well imagined that the FBI in NY was now going to get a very interesting reputation.


	13. Realizations

Peter was again finding himself sidelined this time with Dom as Neal, Ezra and Elizabeth were engaged in an animated discussion of art, wine and as Ezra put it "Various other highbrow topics." He relaxed with Dom watching the conversational ball bounce back and forth between the three. Every once in a while one or the other would glance back at him or Dom soliciting a silent opinion or backup. Peter watched this byplay with affection. Neal had long been his friend but it was clear that Ezra would fit right in. Suddenly he had a flashback to the moment when he was holding a gun on Ezra to try and force him to give himself to Blane. He felt like he could not breathe. It was as though until that moment his mind had carefully kept a cardboard cutout in Ezra's place and suddenly it had been filled in. He breathed out and Dom was standing in front of him and he had not seen him move. His voice was more gentle than Peter had ever heard it. "Just hit you huh? It's ok breathe Peter he's fine. No permanent damage was done." Peter gasped for air and felt Dom helping him up and calling back over his shoulder "Hey guys Peter's going to show me around the neighborhood a bit. We'll be back" Then he was walking outside. Dom eased him into his car and slid in beside him. "We're gonna drive a bit, find a place with a little space." He came back to himself sometime later as they were pulling into a park. "Hey. Up for a walk?" He looked at Dom "Why am I still alive? Jesus if ... if someone now did that to Ezra I'd kill him. Why didn't you end me?" Dom looked at him his eyes serious. "I knew Ezra would never forgive me if I did something like that because he had told me before he thought you were a good man. This reaction right now. It convinces me he was right. What you did it was awful but I do understand. In similar circumstances I would be tempted to do something similar if someone was just a name to me. Now you know who he is but you did not before. You did not think. Let me sacrifice Ezra for Elizabeth." Peter stared at him. He felt ashamed. To some extent he had dismissed Dom as "just some ex-con" to have his feelings pegged so accurately made him realize that Dom was also a worthwhile man, could be a good friend. "How do I explain to him?' Dom smiled "Just tell him you're sorry. He'll understand the rest." Dom's face was serious again "Does Elizabeth know the whole story the real one?" Peter sighed "No I let her believe I just agreed to Ezra's plan I still have not told her that I was going to try and force him. Oh God I have to tell her don't I" Dom's voice was sincere "I think that is enough punishment even for me. I suspect that your Elizabeth will be pissed as hell at you though. Ezra was never anything but himself to her I suspect." Peter stood up and offered Dom his hand. "Mr Toretto it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."


	14. Epilogue: Something to hope for

Ezra leaned back in his chair watching Dom and Brian face off against Chris and Vin across the pool table. Both teams had attempted to get him to bet on them but he had declined to take sides. It was good to be back in Denver again. Though some of the experience in New York had been good it certainly had been a very mixed bag. Mia came over to the table and suddenly JD, Josiah and Buck found they had someplace else to be. Ezra smiled. Certainly things had changed in many ways for him since he had met Dom but the one that continually amazed him was that he no longer felt uncomfortable discussing how he felt. He felt no desire to regale most of his teammates with his feelings but he did not hide from them either and he was relaxed about Mia's queries into his emotional state. 

Now that she had the space and opportunity she wasted no time. "So Ray are you OK?" He had no need to lie to her. "No, not yet, but I will be." He allowed himself the luxury of telling the truth. "I always felt as though I was waiting for Dom to figure out that he did not really want me. First I was concerned that he would realize he wanted a woman, since he is not gay and would not describe himself as bisexual. Later I was concerned because while he accepted the idea of a having a toy, as a possession he owned, I could not help feeling that was the only way he would be able to relate to me and, I am not truly a toy." Mia smiled "You could give him loyalty but not obedience. For you it was more a game than reality. Your loyalty came because you loved him." Ezra disagreed "Not precisely a game but I am not capable of handing over complete control. I did give him possession of my body, my worldly goods. I would never willingly do anything to disrespect him. I can even to a certain extent enjoy letting him be in charge of many things in my life but I could not give him or anyone my complete will." Mia was pensive "You were concerned that once he truly realized that he would not be able to continue the relationship with you." Ezra agreed "In a sense that is exactly what happened. He indicated a desire to terminate the relationship because he could not countenance the idea that he was not in total control of me. I have never been so glad that he cannot break the contract. In the end though I was important to him as person. He actually knelt to me Mia, that was... If I had been given no other choice but to honestly be his toy or not have him at all. I think I would have tried to be a toy for him but I believe I would have failed. I'm glad it is moot." Mia smiled "I'm glad he was able to make the leap to change for you. You're good for him. I've said he's gravity. Brian follows him too blindly sometimes." Suddenly Mia leaned forward and hugged Ezra tight "I'm glad you're in our family and I hope someday you'll actually be my brother in law." Ezra smiled too “If that ever happens you are helping me plan the wedding.”


End file.
